Midvale, Clearfield saw large drop in unemployment

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Midvale saw Salt Lake County's largest drop in unemployment between April and August.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data revealed that the midvalley community's unemployment rate dropped 11.1 percent, from 6.3 to 5.6 percent during those months.

In Davis County, Clearfield experienced a 13.3 percent decrease in unemployment, from 7.5 percent to 6.5 percent.

The figures reflect non-seasonally adjusted unemployment figures in cities with a population greater than 25,000.

Clearfield was followed by Kaysville, with a 12.2 percent reduction in unemployment; Bountiful, down 10.7 percent; and Layton, down 4.9 percent.

In Salt Lake County, the other cities that saw reductions in unemployment were West Valley City, 9.2 percent; Cottonwood Heights, 5.7 percent; and Salt Lake City and West Jordan, both at 5.4 percent. Taylorsville and Draper saw no change in unemployment rates.

In neighboring Utah County, Orem's unemployment rate dropped 5 percent, from 6 to 5.7 percent, while Provo remained the same at 5.6 percent.

The bureau defines people as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the previous four weeks and are available for work. It also includes people who are not working but are waiting to be recalled from a temporary layoff.

The unemployment figures, however, do not include those who have quit looking for a job, a point economists and critics have highlighted. Mark Knold, the chief economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, told The Salt Lake Tribune in an earlier interview that if the uncounted people start looking for work again, it could push up Utah's unemployment numbers.

While the preliminary report showed Utah's September unemployment rate at 5.4 percent, it was 5.8 percent in August, which represented a 6.7 percent drop compared to April.

The data were compiled by UtahsRight.com for a weekly series in The Salt Lake Tribune's Close-Up section highlighting information gleaned from public databases. The purpose is not to provide analysis of the data, but to provide raw numbers so the public an analyze the data themselves for their own purposes.

UtahsRight.com, the data website for The Salt Lake Tribune, conducts an ongoing statewide quest for district court information and other public information, including salaries of public employees and restaurant inspections, using public records requests made under the state's Government Records Access and Management Act, commonly known as GRAMA.